Apple COO Jeff Williams 'Very Aware Of' Concerns Over Apple Product Cost

[MacRumors]

Apple COO Jeff Williams spoke at Elon University on Friday, Feb. 22 and spoke of his history in joining Apple in 1998. The Times News covers his talk in detail. Williams also took questions from students in the audience. One student asked Williams if Apple had any plans to reduce prices considering the seemingly large margins on Apple products based on analyst reports.

Williams dismissed those reports, suggesting the actual cost of development isn't considered:

"The stories that come out about the cost of our products [have been] the bane of my existence from the beginning of time, including our early days," Williams said. "Analysts don't really understand the cost of what we do and how much care we put into making our products."

He goes on to explain that to build the Apple Watch's activity tracker, Apple built a physiology lab with 40 nurses and 10,000 participants. Still, Williams conceded it's an area that they are paying attention to:

"It's something we're very aware of," he said. "We do not want to be an elitist company. That's not -- we want to be an egalitarian company, and we've got a lot of work going on in developing markets."

The Times News article goes on to cover Williams' talk about his reasons for joining Apple back in 1998, as well as how it feels to be part of a company that has been so successful.

Pricing on Apple's flagship phones has been cited as a factor in iPhone sales underperformance in the last quarter. Apple's flagship iPhone has increased in price over the years with the most recent iPhone XS Max starting at $1099.

Article Link: Apple COO Jeff Williams 'Very Aware Of' Concerns Over Apple Product Cost

 

[now i see it]

 executive defending . yawn

 

[iop]

> “It’s something we’re very aware of,” he said. “We do not want to be an elitist company. That’s not — we want to be an egalitarian company, and we’ve got a lot of work going on in developing markets.”

Hmm... This statement definitely contradicts reality.

 

[Nik]

Dismissing huge margins by citing stuff like R&D etc ... meanwhile, just look at the actual profits (profit, not revenue) they have according to their own earning reports. The whole argument falls apart when looking at the actual numbers.

Example: NOTHING can justify the ridiculous SSD upgrade prices (even with same performance metrics) but pure greed. Greed which begins to damage their image.

 

[busuan]

Hi Jeff, one iPhone costs one grand, two for 2, and 3 for 3.... simple right? The thing is we do have to replace 3 iPhones in short, very short period of time, and periodically. And MacBooks, speakers, watches. They add up. You knew that, for sure, right? Good. Great!

 

[macduke]

Please tell me Elon University is a magical place full of Teslas, solar panels, flame throwers and space ships!

I want to go to there.

 

[IbisDoc]

"Analysts don't understand the work we do to maintain massive profit margins. They just have this unhealthy obsession with price."

 

[Apple_Robert]

I think that Apple needs to take a serious look at future pricing. I don't think a lot of people (especially those in their 20s) will continue paying increased prices, even with new products and technology. The monetary saturation point is approaching quickly.

I appreciate Apple products, service, and overall mission. However, I am not going to pay $2k for a phone. I have no problem holding onto my devices longer, instead of upgrading regularly. Even if one has money, that doesn't necessarily mean one should throw it into the wind.

 

[Naraxus]

Very aware but not going to do a goddamn thing about it because his CEO wants to nickle and dime every customer he has left.

The arrogence of this company is off the charts

 

[shadowbird423]

Please tell me Elon University is a magical place full of Teslas, solar panels, flame throwers and space ships!

I want to go to there.

No, just kids from unusually wealthy families, even by private university standards. Lots of Teslas though.

 

[shahr04360]

Finally?!

 

[PixelDestructor]

how much care we put into making our products

Wanna explain why macOS has been ignored for years if you care so much about products? It still has bugs from years ago that have never been patched, forget new features.
Why has the Mac Pro still not received an update? Why is the MacBook Pro forcefully sold with a Touch Bar? If you care so much about your products why are you still selling the 6th Generation iPod Touch or the 4th Generation iPad Mini? There are so many segments of Apple's product line that show a complete lack of care and attention to detail compared to just 10 years ago.

 

[KPandian1]

So, he is aware of the daily happenings at Apple! (As COO duties.)

Who answers to him when he asks the daily questions like: "why is the keyboard replacement so expensive?", "why does the hinge cable cost an entire screen?", "why is the operational cost of AppleCare plus so much for each repair?", etc.?

Or, is he the person who has to answers such queries and justify the cost? (Examples: "That is why we charge so much upfront!", "We can write off those expenses.")

 

[DanBig]

I'm willing to pay more, but the quality and performance I expect needs to be there.

Since 2016 the quality issue on the MacBook Pro and its usefulness has slid (keyboard and display cable) and lack of required ports natively onboard (USB-A, Ethernet, SD & MagSafe). The i9 as an example should never have been put into the ultra thin case doing so limits its performance beyond reason. The performance of the i7 is so close to the i9 it's a waste! If you had created a thicker body so a better cooling solution could be used then I could see it being a workable system.

Then there's the timidness of introducing a better cross section of systems to meet user base needs. And the snail pace of getting product out is another issue. The Mac Pro should have not taken 4+ years to rethink and get to market. Still waiting for a real Pro's MacBook Pro, the current ones are not real Pro systems.

 

[09872738]

Quote: "It's something we're very aware of," he said. "We do not want to be an elitist company. That's not".

Subtext: "Which is why we price our SSDs so very reasonably. The upgrade to 1 TB barely is 1000 bucks for what is available for less than one quarter of that in retail. Hence we overcharge by 4x only, isn't that very generous of us?"

 

[needsomecoffee]

Wishfully we all hoped he had said: "Steve's and Tim's desire to deliver maximum value to consumers lead us to build a moderate new HQ thereby minimizing the allocated costs to the R&D and Mfg overhead that factor into iPhone's pricing. This approach also allowed our lead designer to continue his razor-edged focus on delivering leading-edge, reliable components."

 

[Sedulous]

Ha ha, good one Mr. Williams. Too bad the evidence doesn’t match the story.

 

[bigjohn]

pay for quality, enjoy the benefits of design & usability, drive it into the ground. repeat.

 

[Lone Deranger]

Williams dismissed those reports, suggesting the actual cost of development isn't considered:He goes on to explain that to build the Apple Watch's activity tracker, Apple built a physiology lab with 40 nurses and 10,000 participants.

Cool story bro! But that ever growing pile of cash Apple is sitting on says otherwise. Apple is raking it in hand over fist. With that in mind, your obscene price increases is hardly ‘caring’ now is it.

 

[alphaod]

Aware and care are different things.

 

[dcdandan]

no problem paying the price but when there is no incentive to upgrade

and don’t say “phone has hit the peak” not even talking about serious innovations that would “wow” me but features that many others already enjoy. ios is also getting so boring and can’t do much that even 3 year old would find it dull

and to those who say “apple is not first one but come out with best one “. ok wireless charging come 5+years late. and what does it bring ? not even including a fast charger. heck not even an ipad charger

yes apple still has great qualities and it’s ecosystem is one of a kind but we have seen this so often in history. if you stand still and still try to squeeze based on the strong foundation previous hasn’t built it will not last

even roman empire would fail

also as soon as apple does not equal quality innovation in mass eyes and reach that tipping point it’s too late

 

[bartolo5]

I can perfectly afford most of current Apple products at their current prices but I simply refuse to, out of principle. To name a couple of things that irritate me:

• Not including a fast charger in the box after paying $1000+ for their flagship phones is ridiculous
• Forcing me to buy a macbook pro with touchbar (instead of traditional keyboard) for semidecent current intel specs with huge markups is ridiculous. Touchbar is an antiproductivity tool IMHO.

I'm perfectly happy paying Apple premium prices for their products but there needs to be a justification. Current tactics are just obvious cash grabs that are turning everyone off.

 

[iamdgeek]

Quality sucks in last few years. I paid 3k for 2018 MacBook Pro with Apple Care + and in less than 3 months, I visited Genius Bar for automatic Freezing and restart issues. They did not fix the problem. I don't know what to do with this issue. I am feeling like I paid 3k for a brick as there is no fix.
They are just charging premium prices for defective unites and claiming they concern about quality of their products.

Shame on you APPLE.

 

[Hedwigg]

It's funny to me that people nowadays are so quick to criticize Apple and their products' prices. Apparently I'm old because I remember when Apple was a luxury brand... I mean, even the first iPhone was $699 for the 8GB model... something that was UNHEARD of at the time. I mean, I switched to that phone from a Motorola V600 which was, what, $160 at the time? And I went from a behemoth Gateway laptop that was huge and made out of plastic for somewhere around $550 to a 12" PowerBook G4 that was around $1,200. You're paying for not only performance, but the quality. I'm typing this on a 2013 MacBook Pro and I don't see myself getting rid of it anytime soon because it runs flawlessly and probably will for at least a few more years. And not only that, but when I *do* decide to upgrade to something new, I can guarantee that I'll be able to sell this laptop for at LEAST a third of what I originally paid for it... if not more. The resale value never seems to cross critics' minds for some reason.

It's entertaining because nowadays, everyone has/wants/needs a computer for their everyday lives, so everyone just assumes that every computer (or phone, or tablet, or whatever) should be priced to fit everyone's budget. That's just not how things work, whether millennials want to accept it or not. Want a cheap laptop? Go to Dell. Want a cheap phone? Check out Motorola. What a cheap tablet? Go to Costco and get some Amazon Kindle Fire Tablet Alexa blah blah blah. Want performance and quality and something that will cause you the least amount of headaches? Then work a few hours overtime and buy that Apple device you're complaining that you can't afford.
[doublepost=1551055828][/doublepost]

I can perfectly afford most of current Apple products at their current prices but I simply refuse to, out of principle. To name a couple of things that irritate me:

• Not including a fast charger in the box after paying $1000+ for their flagship phones is ridiculous
• Forcing me to buy a macbook pro with touchbar (instead of traditional keyboard) for semidecent current intel specs with huge markups is ridiculous. Touchbar is an antiproductivity tool IMHO.

If you're willing to spend a grand on a phone, a $15 charger isn't going to sway your decision. And here: https://www.apple.com/shop/buy-mac/macbook-pro/13-inch-space-gray-2.3ghz-dual-core-128gb# ... literally right on Apple's website, a MacBook Pro without a Touch Bar, and it's not even in the refurb store (where there are more options).

 

[Constable Odo]

I understand if they want to charge more, but if consumers stop buying their products then there will definitely be a problem. I'm sure there is some major disconnect between Apple's share price and how much revenue and profit Apple makes. Microsoft is valued much higher in overall value than Apple despite making less revenue and profit. Apple has somehow messed up when it comes to convincing big investors they have decent growth potential.

I'm willing to pay for Apple products if I really want them because I want products that last a long time and most of my Apple products have lasted quite a long time. I don't think most consumers think that way, so Apple is going to have a huge disadvantage. I believe if Apple thinks they can keep charging consumers high prices and expect growth, then I think they're wrong. If Apple wants to keep charging high prices then they should come up with some new revenue streams based on enterprise businesses. I'm not trying to tell Apple how to run its business. This is just my opinion and I don't have the money-making capabilities of Apple.

I simply wish Apple would make some desktop products that are easily upgradeable with standard parts. Is it really that difficult for Apple to build a product with easily accessible compartments to upgrade memory and storage as most companies do? I'll pay more if Apple doesn't try to make it difficult for users to upgrade their products. Having to practically tear apart an iMac Pro to replace/upgrade storage is absolutely insane.